LOS ANGELES—Users of popular navigation apps like Waze are warning the services directed them to neighborhoods where wildfires forced closures and evacuations.

The issue stems from the way apps like Waze help users avoid commute nightmares such as heavy traffic or construction. Largely reliant on information supplied by other drivers, when the Google-owned app notices gridlock on a user's route, it will reroute the driver to quieter streets — even if they're empty because drivers have fled smoke and the threat of flames.

Waze's directions to the Getty Center on Thursday morning(Photo: Waze)

Waze, which also works with transportation authorities and a team of local map editors to keep the app updated, says on any given day, those enflamed neighborhoods would have been shown as off limits within an hour of two. "We worked really hard Wednesday afternoon to get our maps up to date and accurate," says Waze spokesperson Chelsea Russo.

Whether because the Santa Ana wind-fueled fires were spreading too fast — or some other reason — drivers Wednesday morning said the app's lag led to directions onto side-streets where fires had already closed them to traffic.

On assignment to cover the fires, a USA TODAY reporter midmorning Wednesday looked to Waze for an alternative route to the Getty Center museum, after fires had closed the normal route, Interstate 405 north.

The app suggested backstreets of the mansion-blanketed L.A. neighborhood of Bel Air instead, turning onto Bellagio Road, a thoroughfare that runs into the heart of Bel Air. Not noted by Waze at the time, there was a cop standing at the intersection, stopping drivers from passing through the Bel Air gates because the road led to the belly of the Skirball fire.

On Wednesday morning, there was no indication on the Waze app that any streets on the suggested route would be in fire territory, or even that there was a fire going on. That didn't change on Thursday either.

As fires swept from hillsides Wednesday, forcing hundreds to evacuate, users asked Waze to update its service so it would steer drivers away. Other users sought to warn fellow drivers.

Google maps, waze, and apple maps all seem to think I can take the 405 to work and drive right through the fire without any problems. That's a problem.

Waze and Google Maps are consistently ranked among the top navigation apps on Apple's App Store. Commuters in heavily congested areas like Los Angeles rely on the apps to cut minutes or sometimes even hours from their drives, a feature that's led to loyal followings.

But sometimes routes go awry.

The Los Angeles Police Department was alerting users of navigation apps to avoid using them so they don't end up near the blazes, reported The Los Angeles Times. Waze's Russo said the LAPD was working off Wednesday morning information.

An LAPD spokesperson didn't return a request for comment.

The app on Thursday included closures on approximately 110 road segments in the area of the fires, as well as the locations of 16 shelters, according to Waze. Users can also make emergency calls from within the app.

What you don't see in Waze, or the other transportation apps, are notices that you may be driving into or near a fire area. A query for directions from Los Angeles to Santa Paula, where are there are many fire-related closures, for instance, would normally call for traveling north on 101 and switching to the 126 freeway. Waze Thursday instead called for many backroads, but didn't indicate if those detours were an attempt to route drivers around the fire, leaving commuters to hope that the app had updated.

Flames burn near power lines in Sycamore Canyon near West Mountain Drive in Montecito, Calif. on Dec. 16, 2017. One of the largest wildfires in California history is now 40 percent contained but flames still threaten coastal communities as dry, gusty winds are predicted to continue. Some 8,000 firefighters are deployed to the so-called Thomas Fire, which has burned for nearly two weeks and still threatens 18,000 homes. Swaths of Santa Barbara County remain under evacuation orders.
Mike Eliason, Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP

A Bombardier 415 Superscooper makes a water drop on hot spots along the hillside east of Gibraltar Road as efforts to battle the Thomas Fire continue near Montecito, Calif. on Dec. 16, 2017.
Mike Eliason , Santa Barbara County Fire Department via EPA-EFE

Kyle Cox, 7, uses a hose to water down the burning embers from an overnight fire near his home in Fillmore, California on Dec. 15, 2017, as the Thomas Fire flared up again, growing to 252,500 acres.
Frederic J. Brown, AFP/Getty Images

Flames from a back firing operation underway rise behind a home off Ladera Lane near Bella Vista Drive in Santa Barbara, Calif on Dec. 14, 2017. Red Flag warnings for the critical combination of low humidity and strong winds expired for a swath of Southern California at midmorning but a new warning was scheduled to go into effect Saturday in the fire area due to the predicted return of winds. The so-called Thomas Fire, the fourth-largest in California history, was 35 percent contained after sweeping across more than 394 square miles of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties since it erupted Dec. 4 a few miles from Thomas Aquinas College.
Mike Eliason, Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP

Firefighters watch flames as the Thomas Fire approaches homes on Dec.12, 2017 in Montecito, Calif. The Thomas Fire has spread across 365 miles so far and destroyed about 800 structures since it began on Dec. 5 in Ojai.
David McNew, Getty Images

Firefighting helicopters try to save a house from the Thomas wildfire in Carpinteria, Calif. on Dec. 10, 2017. The Thomas fire is only 15 percent contained, now threatening the city of Santa Barbara and the nearby coastal town of Carpinteria, making it one of the worst wildfires in California history.
Mark Ralston

CalFire works in Ventura County as efforts continue against the Thomas Fire in Ojai, Calif. on Dec. 9, 2017. Several fires burning in various locations of Southern California with the Thomas Fire the largest at 148,000 acres burned, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate as one of the strongest Santa Ana winds forecast of the season have continued for much of the past week.
John Cetrino, EPA-EFE

Flames rise as a fire front approaches the Lake Casitas area on Dec. 8, 2017 near Ojai, Calif. Strong Santa Ana winds have been feeding major wildfires all week, destroying hundreds of houses and forcing tens of thousands of people to stay away from their homes.
David McNew, Getty Images

Firefighters watch after setting a backfire at night to make progress against the Thomas Fire before the winds return with the daylight near Lake Casitas on Dec. 9, 2017 near Ojai, Calif.
David McNew, Getty Images

Firefighters put out burning embers from recent Ventura County fires in the Los Padres National Forest north of Ojai, California on Dec. 8, 2017. Unrelenting winds fanned towering flames in southern California, where hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee multiple devastating fires in the Los Angeles area and new outbreaks near San Diego.
Frederic J. Brown, AFP/Getty Images

Marissa Sherman, left, reacts as she sees the destroyed home of her grandfather, Dick Marsala, right, after a wildfire roared through the Rancho Monserate Country Club, on Dec. 8, 2017, in Bonsall, Calif.
Gregory Bull, AP

Dick Marsala looks through debris from his destroyed home after a wildfire roared through the Rancho Monserate Country Club, Friday, in Bonsall, Calif. The wind-swept blazes have forced tens of thousands of evacuations and destroyed dozens of homes in Southern California.
Gregory Bull, AP

A street destroyed by the Lilac Fire in Rancho Monserate Country Club is pictured on Friday, in Fallbrook, Calif. The fire is just one of several wildfires raging throughout southern California.
Sean Logan, The Republic

A photo album damaged by fire is see amid the destruction of the Lilac Fire, Friday, at a retirement community in Fallbrook, in San Diego County Calif. Hot and dry Santa Ana winds have ignited wildfires across Southern California.
Robyn Beck, AFP/Getty Images

Richard Timboe, right, and his son Steve move items out of Richards' home in Rancho Monserate Country Club. Much of the neighborhood was affected by the Lilac Fire, but Timboe's house survived.
Sean Logan, The Republic-USA TODAY NETWORK

Firefighters monitor a section of the Thomas Fire along the 101 freeway, Thursday, north of Ventura, Calif. Ffirefighters occasionally used a flare device to burn-off brush close to the roadside.
Mario Tama, Getty Images

Christy Woodhams and her son Josh Lowe inspect the remains of the cabin they were staying in that belonged to her cousin at Camp Bartlett, in Santa Paula, Calif.
Richard Lui, The Desert Sun via USA TODAY NETWORK

Firefighters monitor a section of the Thomas Fire along the 101 freeway on Dec. 7, 2017, north of Ventura, Calif. The firefighters occasionally used a flare device to burn-off brush close to the roadside.
Mario Tama, Getty Images

Firefighter Mike Warren, part of a Portland, Ore., crew battling the Thomas fire, stages in Ojai, Calif., on Dec. 7, 2017. The biggest and most destructive of the windblown fires raking Southern California shut down one of the region's busiest freeways Thursday and threatened Ojai, a scenic mountain town dubbed "Shangri-La" and known for its boutique hotels and New Age spiritual retreats.
Noah Berger, AP

A group of horse rescuers stages in a parking lot as smoke from the Thomas fire billows over Ojai, Calif., on Dec. 7, 2017. The volunteers, who met through a Facebook group, estimated that they have evacuated more than 100 horses from the fire.
Noah Berger, AP

A firefighter battles a wildfire at Faria State Beach in Ventura, Calif., on Dec. 7, 2017. The wind-swept blazes have forced tens of thousands of evacuations and destroyed dozens of homes.
Jae C. Hong, AP

Two firefighters watch as a home burns in a wildfire in La Conchita, Calif., Dec. 7, 2017. The wind-swept blazes have forced tens of thousands of evacuations and destroyed dozens of homes.
Jae C. Hong, AP

Orange County firefighter Robert Bucho tapes off Highway 150 near Santa Paula for caution as power lines brought down by the Thomas Fire block the road. The road is closed until further notice.
Juan Carlo, Ventura County Star via USA TODAY NETWORK

A volunteer passes supplies donated to Thomas fire evacuees in Ventura, Calif., on Dec. 6, 2017. As many as five fires have closed highways, schools and museums, shut down production of TV series and cast a hazardous haze over the region. About 200,000 people were under evacuation orders. No deaths and only a few injuries were reported.
Noah Berger, AP

A family wears face masks as they walk through the smoke filled streets after the Thomas wildfire swept through Ventura, Calif. on Dec. 6, 2017.
California motorists commuted past a blazing inferno Wednesday as wind-whipped wildfires raged across the Los Angeles region, with flames triggering the closure of a major freeway and mandatory evacuations in an area dotted with mansions.
Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images

A new wildfire broke out overnight in some of Los Angeles' most exclusive neighborhoods. As the fire climbs up the canyon wall, firefighters race to save the homes along the 1700 block of Linda Flora in the upscale Bel Air Estates area of Los Angeles on Dec. 6, 2017.
Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY

A horse rider heads back to his home as other owners start to evacuate their horses during the Creek Fire in Lake View Terrace, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2017.
Joe Lumaya, Ventura County Star, via USA TODAY NETWORK

As the sun sets, a resident watches the Rye Canyon Fire in Stevenson Ranch, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2017. The Rye Canyon Fire had burned over 5,000 acres by 4 p.m. The fire forced the evacuation of several schools in the area and the closure of several roads.
Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY

Michael and Vonea McQuillam stand beside their house that was burned to the ground during the Thomas wildfire in Ventura, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2017. Firefighters battled a wind-whipped brush fire in Southern California that has left at least one person dead, destroyed more than 150 homes and businesses and forced tens of thousands to flee.
Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images

James and Josie Ralstin carry belongings from their Ventura, Calif., home as flames from a wildfire consume another residence on Dec. 5, 2017. The couple evacuated early Tuesday morning as the fire approached, but returned to retrieve medications and other property.
Noah Berger, AP

Horses are evacuated from a ranch along Kagel Canyon at the Creek fire on Dec. 5, 2017, in La Canada Flintridge, Calif. Raked by ferocious Santa Ana winds, explosive wildfires northwest of Los Angeles and in the city's foothills burned a psychiatric hospital and scores of other structures Tuesday and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News, via AP

Engineer Brock Harmon from the L.A. Fire Department sprays water on a burning home at the corner of North Fir and Buena Vista Streets in Ventura on Dec. 5, 2017.
Chuck Kirmanv, Ventura County Star, via USA TODAY NETWORK

Smoke from the Creek wildfire in the San Gabriel Mountains, the second range behind the Hollywood Hills, home of the Hollywood sign, looms up over Los Angeles Tuesday morning on Dec. 5, 2017.
Reed Saxon, AP

Flames rise near a home as a wildfire burns in Ventura, Calif., on Dec. 5, 2017. Ferocious winds in Southern California have whipped up explosive wildfires, burning a psychiatric hospital and scores of other structures.
Jae C. Hong, AP